Breakfast in Paris w/ Richard Branson

OKAY, so it took me a long time to share this because I'm not really one to 'name-drop', but always willing to share my journey if the story can add value & inspire ? others to do what they feel is impossible.

And this one *really* resonated for me so I'm hoping it does the same for someone else.?

If you prefer VIDEO, you can check out the whole story here.

A lot of you might not know this, but I grew up as a MAJOR Richard Branson fan, read all his books. I mean, how could you not??He oozes integrity, class, leadership, authenticity, absolutely loves Entrepreneurship AND has a ton of fun doing so!

So inspiring!

It was my DREAM to meet him in person. But at the time, there was that little voice: "But how, Christine?"?

I didn't have all the answers but I knew I'd get there. Flash back to 2013, when I was a scrappy entrepreneur in the budding stages of a new business. I heard that Richard would be in San Diego for his son’s movie premiere and immediately saw the opportunity to jump.?

Can you guess what I did ??

Yep, I attended the premiere just to get in proximity. No shame in my game. But I didn't want to be another 'taker', I wanted to add value.

I remember running up to the stage as they were pulling him off, telling him I was so inspired by him, and quickly handing him a check of $1,000 as a donation to his Virgin Unite foundation then running off. It wasn't much, but at the time, it was all I had.

What happened next floored me.

Richard called me PERSONALLY to thank me for that donation and said it was the first time someone handed him a check and ran off ??????

Seriously, for $1k.?

He gets donations 10x, 100x that all the time and still took the time out of his whirlwind life for a personal thank-you call.?

Talking to him, he over-delivers expectations and more. Once we started chatting, it honestly felt like talking to a friend. And knowing what he does with the foundation, giving that money felt SO GOOD.?

I immediately knew it was just the beginning and set a new goal to add TWO ZEROS to the next check, a $100,000 contribution to Virgin Unite next.

That lit a fire under me. It gave me a WHY. It gave me accountability to succeed for a reason that was bigger than myself.

So now picture this:

It's a few years later, 2017. I've been working my ass off and just exited my 8th business.?

One of the first things I did was write that $100,000 check to Virgin Unite.?The second thing was treat myself to an Audi R8 (my dream car!), because balance ???

I reached back out to Richard and he invited me to meet for breakfast.... In Paris ??!

We got together and chatted about our businesses, goals, life philosophies, Crypto, going to space with Virgin Galactic ??, and even meditation. Once again, it just felt like catching up with an old friend.?

I also told him in person that the next check would have ANOTHER ZERO.

It was so sweet, he even had a notepad with him and was scribbling things down on it during our hangout. I didn't think much of it, but a week or so later I saw a blogpost go live on his website and all his social media accounts sharing our story.?

He also told the world ?? that I was working on my next donation of $1M?? Glad he did it motivates me even more!

To this day, I'm still as inspired as ever. Having moved on to business brokerage helping others achieve exits, I decided that all Magnolia Firm ?? charitable efforts will support the Virgin Unite Foundation.

We WILL add one more zero to the next check, Luckily, by helping amazing clients sell their businesses, we are pretty damn close to making that happen.

"The Secret to Living is Giving" ??